Gandhinagar Grapevine...

June 30, 2012

Get set for a laugh riot

With more and more character artistes getting lead roles, looks like times are changing in the Kannada film industry. Joining the bandwagon is Sharan, a popular comedian who has been in the industry for 10 years. He will soon be playing the lead role in ‘Rambo’ directed by M S Sreenath and produced by him and Nagendra.

The shooting of the movie is complete and its music was launched recently. The proud actor says that this film is special as it will be his 100th film. “Frankly, I never thought I would see this day but I am glad my 100th movie is ‘Rambo’,” he says.

One definitely gets curious when a movie with Sharan in the lead has a title like ‘Rambo’. Ask him about it and he says, “This is exactly the kind of reaction I am hoping for. People would never expect me to do a movie titled ‘Rambo’. But I want to create curiosity about the kind of person ‘Rambo’ is. When people watch the movie, they will know why it is titled so.”

Nagendra, who has been producing movies for many years, says that the minute he heard the script, he knew only Sharan could carry off the role. “It’s not your typical ‘Gandhinagar format’ movie.There is a uniqueness about the script and it will definitely impress the masses. With the kind of talent and team we have brought together for the movie, we are not leaving any stone unturned,” says Nagendra, who plans to release the movie in the US as well.

Sharan says working with Nagendra has been a great learning experience. “He has been very kind. In fact, this project came to me by chance. And when we narrated the story to him (Nagendra) over the phone, he too was impressed by the storyline and said that he was on board. Nagendra lives in the States and if he was blown over by a story narration over the phone, you can imagine how entertaining the product will be on screen,” says Sharan. The movie is a comedy and along with Sharan, there are a whole lot of comedians like Umashree, Rangayana Raghu and Sadhu Kokila. “Each character has been treated with utmost care and given equal importance,” says Nagendra.The movie is waiting for the censor certificate so as to set the release date.

Megha Shenoy

Back after a break

Earlier this year, Kala Samrat S Narayan had made an official announcement stating that he would be retiring from film-making after his film Munjaane tanked at the box office. But now, all that has taken a U-turn with the director returning to directing and producing films. And who made him change his mind? None other than ‘Rebel Star’ Ambarish.

“I wanted to stand by my decision but it was senior actor Ambarish, who pressurised me to come back along with other eight to 10 people in the industry, who have been closely associated with me and respected me for my work. I felt that I did not think about all these people when I took the decision. I thought that I should not hurt them. So I will be back behind the camera very soon,” he beams.

He goes on to add that he never realised that he had gained so many well-wishers in the industry. “While leaving the cinema field, I was somewhere hurting a lot of my folks from cinema fraternity. That’s why I decided to get back to direction,” he says.

His first step after coming back will be releasing his pending film, Appaya starring Srinagar Kitty and Bhama. “I plan to release Appaya sometime in July and only after that will think of my next project,” says Narayan.